Judging by the past we could set set for a cracker.
For the seventh time in three seasons Galway and Kilkenny will meet in the hurling championship, and for the third final in four years they clash in an All-Ireland decider.
We’ve ranked five games that made a lasting impression, not only on fans, but also on both sides.
No.5
2001 All-Ireland hurling semi-final
Galway 2-15 Kilkenny 1-13
At the turn of the Millennium, the famine for Galway was only a mere 13 years old as they deposed the reigning All-Ireland champions.
Brian Cody had secured the first All-Ireland title of his reign the season before, and for the first time he would come a-cropper against a Galway side.
Current selector Eugene Cloonan struck 2-9 on a day when Cody felt his side were bullied by a ferocious Galway side that set down a physical marker from the very start,
Somewhere along the line, the standards that we had carefully set together had dropped. Without realising it, we had gone a little soft. We were one grand happy bunch who had won the All-Ireland a year earlier and, as we discovered in the most painful manner imaginable, the day you get cosy is the day you hit the wall.
The Kilkenny boss vowed that his side would not be dominated ever again when it came to aggression, and this game was perhaps the moment when the modern Kilkenny dominance was really spawned.
No.4
2014 Leinster semi-final
Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 5-16
Kilkenny are a team that don’t give up leads. And they certainly don’t give up massive ten-point advantages in the closing minutes of Leinster semi-finals.
But against Galway anything can and frequently does happen, and with Joe Canning in full boy-wizard mode the Tribesmen looked to have salvaged a draw with time almost up.
But Henry Shefflin also had a trick up his sleeve and he pulled off an incredible sideline point to put the Cats a point up before Canning responded to sail over the equaliser in the dying seconds.
Drama. But it’s what we’ve come to expect from these two heavyweights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6UrAyMp2_U
No.3
2005 All-Ireland hurling semi-final
Galway 5-18 Kilkenny 4-18
Widely regarded as one the best games of all time, this thriller saw Galway’s Niall Healy score a hat-trick of goals, with two of those strikes coming the space of a few first-half minutes
Galway led by 2-11 to 3-5 at the break after the sides lashed in four goals in a five-minute period before the break.
The action did not let up after the short whistle either and those worried about Mayo-Dublin’s aggression might want to close their eyes after several heavyweight tussles.
Galway, thanks to Healy, eventually managed to kill off the tie, despite Eddie Brennan scoring 2-4.
No.2
2012 All-Ireland final
Kilkenny 0-19 Galway 2-13
‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ may as well have been blasted out by the Kilkenny management on the team bus in to Croke Park for the 2012 final, just two months after a Leinster final ambush by Galway.
But on a day when Henry Shefflin was at his most flawless, it took every single sinew in his body, and his years of experience, to keep Kilkenny in touch with a rampant Galway side.
Joe Canning’s goal after 10 minutes was the catalyst once again for the Tribesmen, but through Shefflin, and Eoin Larkin, the Cats used up at least one of their nine lives in rescuing a draw, despite trailing by 1-9 to 0-7 at the break.
Shefflin even could have won it outright when he lined up a penalty in the 69th minute but decided to take a point instead.
Eventually it came down to Joe Canning taking a free from the sideline which he guided over to set up our first All-Ireland hurling final replay since 1959.
No.1
2012 Leinster final
Galway 2-21 Kilkenny 2-11
Simply stunning.
Never before had anyone seen a Kilkenny team deconstructed in such fashion, as Galway held the All-Ireland champions to a full 20 minutes without a single score.
By that stage Galway were ahead 1-6 to 0-0 as they destroyed the Kilkenny puck-out strategy and led by 2-12 to 0-4 at half-time.
Cody was shellshocked and so were his team as Galway blew open the race for the All-Ireland.
But Galway could not maintain the pressure and as befitting All-Ireland champions Kilkenny learned more from the loss than Galway did from the win.
This YouTube clip became infamous as it showed up exactly how Galway beat the infamous Kilkenny system.
However, they could not repeat the trick in either the All-Ireland finals or the subsequent replay as the Cats lifted the MacCarthy Cup yet again.
